Shadows Parade
by DAIrinchan
Summary: Masamune ponders the problems of a long-distance relationship, albeit one that exists half in his mind. Masamune/Hana


**Disclaimer:** I think it'll be obvious from the story, but i don't own _Gate 7_.

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It wasn't that Masamune wanted to live in Kyoto. He liked Tokyo. A lot. It was just… Hana wasn't there.

Hana, you see, did live in Kyoto. With _Other Men_.

Masamune couldn't stand it. How dare _those three_ live in the same house with his precious Hana? They got to live with Hana, eat noodles with Hana, fight side-by-side with Hana… While there he was in Tokyo, all alone except for Kojyuuroh.

And he had to spend all his time in _school._ Didn't those teachers – yes, Kojyuuroh too – didn't they know there were more important things than math and writing? Things like finding Nobunaga and his oni, and keeping Tokugawa from finding them. Of course, nothing Nobunaga or Tokugawa did could ever hope to be as important as Hana was.

Masamune's top priority at this point was to protect Hana from those Other Men.

He didn't consider Sakura a threat, no – but that Tachibana was far too close to his dear, sweet Hana. And now there was that new guy, the one with the stupid name. (What was it again? Chika-something?) Whatever he was called, Hana seemed awfully fond of him.

Under such circumstances, was it any wonder Masamune considered running away?

But he couldn't do that. He needed Kurikara with him, and to have Kurikara, he needed Kojyuuroh. And Kojyuuroh thought Masamune needed to be educated. It was enough to make someone cry – not Masamune. Once or twice, the boy was able to talk his caretaker into taking a day off, which he'd use to go see Hana. But that didn't happen very often, just when Hana was in Serious Danger. What about Lesser Danger? Hana needed his help. Really.

In that case, he could hardly ever see his precious flower, and he couldn't bear that. More than once he had had his bags packed, his hand on the door, before he remembered that he wouldn't make it very far without his oni. Without Kurikara, he would only be a burden to Hana, and that was no good either. He had no choice but to tolerate the long days apart.

Then again, that only made the time he did spend with Hana all the sweeter.

Like today, for instance. School had let out early, so Masamune was able to talk Kojyuuroh into heading to Kyoto for the afternoon and evening. (He hadn't used blackmail, nope, not at all. The great Masamune Date would never stoop so low.)

So off they went, bringing their usual gift of umen noodles. Now Masamune was seated at the low table at Kyoto's ura-shichiken, with a hot bowl in front of him and his beloved Hana beside him.

The only problem was that the Other Men were there too. He brought those noodles for Hana, dammit! Who did Tachibana and Chika-loser think they were, eating HIS and HANA'S noodles like they owned the place?

But he was getting off topic. Why should he waste his time thinking about Other Men when Hana was right here next to him?

Hana was so cute. With those big sweet eyes and that adorable haircut, slurping up those noodles like they were the most important thing in the world…

Okay. Okay, for Hana, noodles probably were the most important thing in the world. But that was okay, so long as Masamune was important too.

"…sama. Masamune-sama."

With a start, Masamune realized Kojyuuroh was talking to him. Damn, he _had_ gotten distracted. Had he really spent so long just thinking? How unlike him, especially with Hana nearby.

"What is it?" he asked, turning to his servant/guardian.

"I said it's getting late, and it's a long ride to Tokyo. We should probably leave soon."

What? They had only been here for, like, an hour or two. How dare something like transportation cut into his precious Hana time?

"No!" he exclaimed. "We should Stay the Night! Right, Hana?"

Hana glanced up at him with a mouth full of noodles.

"So cute!" he squealed, throwing his arms around his crush. Hana slurped up more noodles.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Masamune turned to see Kojyuuroh smiling sweetly at him, while a dark aura built up behind him. "Masamune-sama…"

"Absolutely not," Tachibana growled.

Masamune sensed it would be better not to argue. "Fine," he grumbled, turning his attention back to Hana. Hana, meanwhile, had finished eating, and was now looking longingly at Masamune's noodles.

The boy grinned and scooped up some noodles with his chopsticks. "Here you go, Hana, say ah~!"

"Aaah…"

He popped the noodles into his crush's mouth, beaming at Hana's expression.

It turned out that hand-feeding Hana was more fun than arguing or thinking. And Hana was more than happy to share his noodles. In no time, the bowl was empty.

"It really is time to go now," Kojyuuroh told him when he was done.

Masamune flung his arms around Hana. "Whaat? No!"

Ignoring him, Kojyuuroh turned to their hosts. "Thank you for having us. We're sorry to impose."

"It's no trouble," Sakura smiled. Judging from Tachibana's surly expression, though, he didn't agree.

Masamune didn't listen, determined to be with Hana down to the last possible second. Luckily his love interest decided to follow as Kojyuuroh dragged him off by the scruff of his neck. (Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating a little.) Behind them, Sakura and the four-eyed loser – Masamune refused to even try to remember his name anymore – began to clean up, while Tachibana continued to glare. The boy samurai focused on Hana, who had stood up with them and now trotted after him. They stopped in the courtyard to say goodbye.

There absolutely _were not_ tears leaking from the corners of Masamune's eyes – and if there were, they'd be manly tears, the acceptable kind – but there weren't, so it didn't matter.

Before he had time to say anything, Masamune's One True Love pulled on his hand. "Come back soon, okay?" Hana said.

Masamune's eyes shimmered. In a manly way. "I will, Hana!" the boy cried out.

"We'll see you," Kojyuuroh said politely, smiling at the short warrior. He took a hold of his young master's arm.

Masamune really wanted to stay and hug the lovely Hana, but had to resign himself to walking backwards and waving until the ura-shichiken was out of view. At that point, he couldn't bear it any longer. He whirled around, facing his retainer, and announced, "Kojyuuroh, i've decided! We're moving to Kyoto."

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**A/N:** Yeah, i know Hana is sure to end up with Chikahito, but until then, i'm gonna amuse myself writing Masamune/Hana fics. Just... hopefully they'll be better than this one. I have no excuse for how this one turned out. Also, just to point out, i don't dislike Chikahito. I just find it incredibly easy to write from Masamune's perspective.


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